Countrywide Financial Reviews

Pros

Countrywide's stock has been described as the "23,000% stock" by Fortune magazine. Between 1982 and 2003

For year-ending Dec 31, 2007
Total Assets: $211,730,061

Cons

In 2008, Bank of America purchased the failing Countrywide Financial for $4.1 billion. In 2006 Countrywide financed 20% of all mortgages in the United States, at a value of about 3.5% of United States GDP, a proportion greater than any other single mortgage lender.....

Advice to Senior Management

Between 1982 and 2003, Countrywide delivered investors a 23,000.0% return, exceeding the returns of Washington Mutual, Wal-Mart, and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Where are you all now GODZILLAS?

Pros

Location, Salary, People, on site cafeteria

Cons

Less opportunity for advancement than other companies

Advice to Senior Management

thanks for not being micro managers

Pros

They had clarity regarding key initiatives and were very supportive to insure goals were attained.

Cons

Heavy volumes at times made it difficult to balance work/life.

Advice to Senior Management

Good leadership within divisions and across divisions was very good

Pros

Promotions were based on merit.

Cons

The bank went under and was acquired.

Advice to Senior Management

It's now been acquired by BofA and hopefully, the management has improved.

Pros

Excellent professional environment, great exposure to industry and technology, endless opportunities to learn and grow. Countrywide has a variety of subsidiaries in the financial industry, mostly mortgage - and promotes employees to move and look for opportunties internally. They have excellent framework to promote new ideas, processes - both in technology and business. In the technology side, mostly home built solutions that are cutting edge and ahead of the industry. A great pool of talents, and outstanding team and professional atmosphere.

Cons

Stability due to economic downturn

Advice to Senior Management

None at this time

Pros

Paid well for those with little education and no other options

Cons

Treated people poorly
Broken systems
Poor reputation

Advice to Senior Management

Turn yourself in to the authorities

Pros

Large company with many different perspectives and varying degrees of talent and skill to learn from.

Cons

Those in cushy positions are sometimes impossible to deal with.

Advice to Senior Management

Politics is inevitable in any environment. However some of this should be monitored and the skill-experience-compensation relationship should be baselined to make sure those with valuable skills are compensated accordingly.

Pros

Good pay compared to peers and responsibilities in other mortgage banks. Varied opportunities to try different careers in the organization.

Cons

Basically, a cowboy culture combined with nepotism. Long hours, no work/life balance once you moved pass VP title.

Advice to Senior Management

Review the corporate culture and start living the values it is supposed to represent.

Pros

Aggressive growth slowed as the business grew; same happend with the culture. Some areas were rough, but most areas were just a normal company.

Cons

Bad reputation will hurt my resume going forward.

Advice to Senior Management

Should have kept your interest rate hedges.

Pros

If you're smart and willing to seek new challenges/responsibilities, you'll often get them. Networking is key - who you know (and who likes you) matters.

Cons

Long hours, tight deadlines, unrealistic expectations from executive management - all of these things are a factor in the day-to-day environment (not just once in a while.)

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your in-house experts, especially the ones who don't agree with everything you say. They likely know more than you do and are probably right.